Rick grinned to show perfectly normal teeth, capped, no doubt. He looked svelte and trendy enough to be an undead’s favorite. Scion, maybe. “Or at least save Global Genetics’ bottom line,” he said, dabbing the sweat from himself with a handkerchief.
Expression idle, Max Saladan blew smoke to the ocean. “It’s not your tomato anymore, Rick. It’s mine. Bought and paid for.”
“Like I said, Global Genetics’ bottom line,” the vampire said, laughing good-naturedly.
Ulbrine leaned over the table, his brow furrowed. “Have you seen Dr. Cambri’s paper on incorporating code into somatic cells by way of a virus?”
“Of course he has.” Colonel Wolfe chuckled, his short fingers carefully manipulating his spoon so it didn’t ting against the glass as he stirred it. His NASA pin caught a glint of light, and Kal felt a jolt of envy. “Can you not smell his jealousy?” he added, dark eyes knowing as they found Kal’s. “The boy reeks of it.”
Kal’s lip twitched. Setting his drink aside, he leaned back, his hands resting confidently on the arms of the wicker chair. He didn’t like that he was unable to see Saladan’s eyes, lost behind dark glasses. “Why am I here?”
Max snorted, and Ulbrine gave him a brief irate look before saying, “After your stellar display at presentation three years ago, I had no recourse but to put Trisk on the enclave’s payroll as security somewhere. We have standards, after all, and I’ll not have the university’s one-hundred-percent placement record tarnished. I sent her to Global Genetics on the rumor they were working up another planet killer.”
Kal’s eyebrows rose. He’d thought her position had been a step down, but apparently not. “So . . . she’s been working on something other than drought-resistant tomatoes?”
“I do not waste talent like hers on farm produce.” Ulbrine slurped his tea, getting a face full of ice when it slid. “Humanity is hell-bent on developing a line of bio-based weapons,” he said as he wiped the tea from his face. “So far, we’ve managed to sabotage the worst of the lot, but there are too many smaller labs without current governmental ties to keep track of.”
“We can’t allow another Cuban bioweapon crisis,” Colonel Wolfe said, his expressive eyebrows high as he handed Ulbrine a cocktail napkin. “With Vietnam heating up, we can no longer afford to ignore the possibility that a small group not under our control is making great strides. We can’t infiltrate every lab from pole to pole, so the easiest method to control them is to give them an outlet, a direction of study we can control.”
Rick brought his eyes back from the servers moving like fish behind the plate glass that divided the haves from the have-nots. His tongue was a sexually charged hint as he slowly licked his lips. “If they had the ability, humans would wipe us all from the earth.”
“No one is going to break the silence,” Ulbrine said placatingly as he wadded up Wolfe’s napkin. “But we can’t risk them accidentally destroying us along with themselves. Focusing humanity on tactical weapons instead of mass destruction is key. Developing a base virus we’re familiar with and can control seems more than desirable; it’s prudent.”
Kal felt a sinking sensation. “And Cambri has done this?” he asked.
“No, but her colleague has,” Ulbrine said. “Dr. Cambri assures us that due to her tweaking, not only is this new virus incapable of causing mass death, but that all of Inderland will be to some degree immune. We’d like to allow it to go to live trials, but we’ve been requested by several Inderland factions to get a second opinion.”
Relief spilled into him, and Kal nodded, the presence of the high-level witch, alpha Were, and vampire now making sense. “You want me to go over her work,” he said, not sure whether that was a compliment or a slap in the face.
Rick beamed at him. “Who better than the man who would give anything to see her fail?”
“Of course,” Kal said, suddenly relishing the idea. “Send the file and I’ll—”
“Send the file?” Colonel Wolfe interrupted, chuckling. “You have no idea the shit that woman has to wade through to do her job on a human platform. It would take three semis to carry the electronic files, and then you’d be unable to read them. Global Genetics’ computer system is large and unwieldy. Takes up an entire basement floor. You have to go there and read it on their system.”
“To the West Coast?” Kal’s enthusiasm faltered, and Rick beamed, nodding unapologetically as he downed the last of his drink. Exhaling in satisfaction, Rick set his empty glass aside, ice tinkling.
Max Saladan slumped, his hand shaking as he found his coffee. “We want the assurance that this new virus is safe as well. You will go in as my employee, assisting in the patent transfer of the T4 Angel tomato. And if you start chewing that ice, Rick, I swear I’ll spell you into a bat.”
“What about my work here?” Kal said as Rick sullenly pushed his glass of ice aside. Kal’s work wasn’t going well, but there had been progress.
“Ulbrine,” Max said, his thin voice taking on a trace of an Asian accent, “I did not stuff myself in a tin can for six hours and fly out here for a maybe. Make him do this. I thought the enclave could make him do this.”
Kal’s eyes narrowed. Across from him, Colonel Wolfe leaned back, his hands laced across his middle in expectation. Ulbrine shifted as if uncomfortable. “Ah,” the enclave member stammered. “Kal? We’ve gotten you a six-month guest pass at Global Genetics through Max. Saladan Industries and Farms acquired the patent to Dr. Cambri’s Angel tomato, and as his field manager, you’ll be assisting in the patent transfer. From there, Rick will get you access to Dr. Plank’s records on the tactical virus. The colonel will be on-site occasionally as the government’s contact facilitating the military acquisition. You will report your findings to both me and him.”